Golf club



H. L. COLES Feb. 22, 1927.

GOLF CLUB 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l/vl zwrafi BY Harm/m L. COLEJ Filed April 1,1926 w/r/vass' I A TTORNEYS.

Feb. 22, 1927.- 1,618,638

- H. L. COLES r f GOLF CLUB Filed April 1, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR.

v WARD L. LE [WT/V565 H0 C? J ATZORNEYS' Patented Feb. 22, 1927. I, a pentree stares A i g I 1,618,633 rarsnr orrics.

HOWARD L. GOLES, F TARRYTOWN, NEW YORK.

GOLF CLUB.

Application filed April 1, 192,6. Seria1 1\l'o. 99,025.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved modifiedform of golf clubs especially adapted for playing the game or golf onareduced scale either in- 5 doors or upon a prepared lawn and to this Iend the invention comprises a shaft or handle adapted to be held in onehand similar to the ordinary golf club and having mounted upon it aspring propelled and cushioned club carrying member so arranged that the7 ball can be addressed in'a manner similar to the form adopted in theusual golf game and by proper manipulation cause the club to bepropelled by its driving springto strikethe.

ball and project it in the desired direction.

In the preferred form of the improved club the shaft or handle hasadjusta-bly mounted upon it a suitable casing in which is mounted atwo-part or double acting spring device acting through a movable part ofthe casing on which is mounted a club.

The movable part of the 'casing'is adapted to be drawn back by hand toplace under tension the spring device, which when released imparts astriking movement to the club. Part of the spring device is arranged toact as a buffer to limit the follow-through of the club. The springdevice is preferably arranged in the form of two springs whichoppositely engage the club carrying casing member, and means areprovided for ln'dependently adjusting the tension of the f springs toregulate the striking force ofthe club and of the cushioning effect ofthe buife-r. t is intended to provide the club with interchangeableheads to simulate the different kinds of clubs usually employed inplaying the game of golf. This interchangeability may be effected byhaving a series of clubs which are det'aehably mounted upon the movablecasing member or a single club shaft upon this movable casing member maybe arranged 'to receive interchangeable club head s. Thisinterchangeability is, however,

preferably accomplished by providing an adjustable club head which inits different positions will present the different angular driving facesof the various clubs. 7

Qlifurther featureof the improved club is provisionfor use by eitherright hand or le t. sea ers- 1a aee result a a 9 a at lt 9 t1 clublieadwnch \v'll presenta driving n at the proper angle, in eitherdirection'tiiid "it the arrangement of'the spr ng device so that thepropelling and buffer sprmgs'can'operate handle portion of an ordinarygolf club.

t tile q #1 interchangeably depending upon the address of the ball andthe manipulation of the movable club carrying casing member.

In order that'the invention may be fully understood it will first bedescribed with ref- I erence to the accompanying drawings and thenovelty afterwards more particularly pointed out in the annexed claims.

In said drawings r Figure l is a perspective view of the preferred formof club illustrating the method of operating it; a

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the main parts ofthe club;

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure l is a rear view of the device;

Figures 5 and 6 are detail views of different'forms of club heads; r a

' Figure 7 is a detail sectional view of part of the device showing thespring adjustment on line 7'. of Figure 4;

Figure 8 is an elevation of a modified form of the improved club showinga removable ground support;

Figure'9 shows two detached clubs of two forms; T

Figure 10 is a detail view of a club havingan adjustable head: i Figure11 is an end viewof the form of I clubshown in Figure 10.

1 is a shaft or handle similar to the upper This shaft 1 is preferablyformed with an inner tubular end 2 which snugly fits and is ,adjustablymounted in a cylindrical socket 3 rigidly attachedto the rear face of acircular base plate 5. The shaftl is secured in the desired adjustedposition in'socket 3 by any suitable means such as a thumb screw 6 and Iby this means the club can be shortenedor lengthened. I i

The casing base plate 5 carries a central pivot bolt 10 upon which isfreely journalled a flat cylindrical casing member 15, a spacing collar11 being mounted upon pivot 10 to assist in supporting the casing member15, and a nut 12 being threaded upon the pivot postlO forconfiningmovablercasing member 15 upon its pivot. 1 The 1 casing member15 l y iits upontheleircular base plate 5 and c statu es A l ifnyin-e13; are

are t'wo"'rigid'studs 20, 21 in which are mounted the opposite ends ofthe curved iniide rod 22 which is supported conccntrh cally within thecircular flange of the movable casing 15. Freely mounted upon thiscurved guide rodQQ are the spiral springs 23, 2 t. The opposite ends ofsprings 23 and 24 are in engagement with small blocks or washers 25which surround the guide rod and have threaded stems 26 which extendthrough the curved slots 27 of base plate 5 and receive the wing'nuts 28which clamp the blocks or washers 25 in the desired adjusted position todetermine the amount of compression or tension upon the springs A hin orlinger 30 rigidly secured to the inner face of movable casing: member 15and surrounds the guide rod between the adjacent inner ends of springs.23, 524 so that the movement of casing member 15 upon its pivot 10 willcompress one of said springs dependii'ig upon the direction ofIllOVtlllClili of the *asing member.

The casing member 15 carries the club with which the ball is struck. Asshown in Figures 1 and 2, a club shaft is securely mounted in a socketmember so attached to the outer face of easing member 15. This shaftcarries at its lower end the club head 40 which may be of any of theusual forms of golf club head and may be detachably mounted by anysuitable means such for instance as illustrated in F igure 5 in whichthe end of shaft 35 is split at 36 and frictionally held in the socketofthe club head. in the form of a driver in Figure (5 of the d ra wings.

To afford interchangeability of clubs it may be preferredto provide anumber of clubs fixed uponindividual shafts which are arranged to bedetachably mounted in the socket 36 of casing member 15. This idea isillustrated in Figure 9 of the drawings in which two short shafts 15, 46carrying club heads: are formed with reduced upper ends to detachablyfit in the socket 36 of the movable casing u'iember lfi referred to.These club shafts may be secured by means of a thumb screw 47 as shownin Figure 8 of the drawings.

The preferred means for providing interchangeability of club heads is,however, illustratedin Figures 1.0 and 11 of the drawings, in wh ch theshaft 50 has a properly shapedmetal end to which the club blade isadjustably attached by means of a bolt passing: throughbase flanges ofthe head and end 51. and secured in place by nut 53. This blade 55 isformed with its opposite faces in parallel relation so that by adjnsting' the blade 55 upon the bolt the player can set the club blade tothe desired angle to suit the particular shot to be made. Since bothfaces of the blade 55 are the same This detachable club head is shown itwill be observed that with the desired :uljustment the club can be usedby eith a right hand or a left hand player.

In Figure 8 I have shown a slight addition or modification of theimproved club. lnthis form the main features of the club as shown inFigures 1 and 2 are present, but to ali'ord a more substantial supportfor the club in addressing the ball, a foot or ground support (30mounted upon the shaft 61 is adjust-ably mounted in the tubular socketextension 2 of the shaft or handle 1. Any means such as the thumb screw(52 may be provided to secure shaft (31 in the desired position.

The improved club is designed for playing a modified short game of golfeither indoors or on a prepared lawn. The usual tees, holes and hazardscan be arranged in accordance with the notions of the players. .111playing indoors it is preferable to use a small hollow celluloid ballbecause of its lightness so as not to injure the house furnishings, Theplayer addresses the ball as illustrated in Figure l of the drawings,holding the club with one hand in the manner somewhat similarto theordinary method of addressing the ball in the regular game of golf.After properly positioning the club head with respect to the ball andholding it firmly in this position, the player with the other hand rear*ardly rotates the casing member 15 carrying; the club, therebycompressing one of the springs 23 or 24. The casing; member 15 may beformed with finger pieces such as shown at '15 and .15" by which thecasing can be readily rotated. The casing pulled back to the desireddegree dependent upon the judgment of the player, when it is released toallow the compressed spring to forwardly rotate the casing causin theclub to strike and propel the ball, the follow-through of the clubbeingrestrained by the opposite spring which also serves to return thecasing and club to central position upon the handle member 1.Byselecting the club with the proper angular strikinf! face the hell canbe lofted more or less to suit the requirement: as in the ordinary{1111116 of golf. The change into different fQIlTlS of clubs can mostconveniently be effected with the form of club shown in Figures 10 and'11 in which the blade can be readily adjusted. The length of the clubto suit the particular player can-be arranged by adjusting the handle orgrip member 1 in the socket of the casing. Likewise the tension of thesprings can be adjusted by the meaus shown. In the form of club shown inFigure 8 the ball is addressed in the same way as above explainedexcepting a more secure support is provided by the foot resting upon theground or floor hall.

I believe Iain the first to provide a club a djacent to the Lil) of thetype described in which the spring propelled striking member is mountedupon and supported by a hand gripped element which enables the player toaddress the ball in a manner very similar to that used in playing theordinary game of golf.

The hand gripped supporting staff, the striking element, and the groundengaging element are all preferably detachably connected to facilitatepacking them into a small parcel for convenient storing andtransporting.

I claim 2- 1. A golf club comprising a hand gripped staff, a springpropelled striking element mounted upon and supported by said handgripped staff, and a ground: engaging element adjustably mounted uponand projecting from said s-tafi.

2. A golf club comprising a hand gripped supporting element, a ballstriking element, a two-part casing, one part of said casing beingconnected to each of said elements, and a spring device arranged betweenthe tWo parts of said casing.

3. A golf club comprising a hand gripped supporting element, a ballstriking element, a two-part casing, one part of said casing beingadjustably mounted upon said sup porting element and the other part ofsaid casing being connected to said striking element, and a springdevice arranged between the two parts of said casing.

' 4:. A golf club comprising a hand gripped supporting element, a ballstriking element, a two-part casing,- one part of said casing beingconnected to each of said elements and the two parts of said casingbeing rotatably connected, and a spring device arranged be tween the tWoparts of said casing.

5. A golf clubcomprising a hand gripping supporting element, a casingadjust-ably mounted upon said hand gripping element, a

c spring device mounted in said casing, and a ball strikmg elementmounted upon said .cas-

ing and actuated by said spring device.

6. A golf club comprising a hand gripping supportingelement, a groundengaging element, a casing, a propelling s ring mounted in said casing,and a striking ele ment mounted upon said casing and operativelyconnected with .saidspring device.

7 A golf club comprising a hand gripping supporting element, a casingmounted upon said hand gripping element, a ground engaging elementadjustably mounted upon said supporting element, a spring device mountedin said casing, and a ball striking element mounted upon and actuated bysaid spring device. 7

8. In a golf club, the combination of a supporting staff having a handgrip, a base plate mounted upon said staff, a spring mounted upon saidbase plate, a casing member movably mounted upon said base plate andengaging said spring, and a ball striking element mounted upon saidcasing.

9. a In a golf club the combination of a supporting staff having a handgrip, a ground engaging staff projecting from said supporting stafi, abase plate mounted upon said supporting staff, a spring mounted uponsaid base plate, a casing member movably mounted upon said base plateand engaging said spring, and a ball striking element mounted upon saidcasing.

10. In a golf club, the combination of a supporting staff having a handgrip, a base plate mounted upon said staff, a spring mounted upon saidbase plate, means for adjusting the tension of said spring, a casingnembermovably mounted upon said base plate and engaging said spring, anda ball striking element mounted upon said casin 11. A golf clubcomprising a supporting staff having a hand grip, a base plate mountedupon said staff, a guide rod mounted upon said base plate, oppositelyacting springs mounted upon said guide rod, a casing movably mountedupon said base plate and having a part projecting into engagement withsald oppositely acting springs, and aball striking element carriedbysaid casing.

12. A golf club comprising a supporting staff having a hand grip, a baseplate mounted upon said staff, a curved guide rod mounted upon said baseplate, oppositely acting separated springs mounted upon said curvedguide rod, a casing rotatably mounted upon said base plate and having apart projecting into engagement With andsepa-w rating'said springs, anda ball striking element carried by said caslng.

HOWARD L. come.

